Why Do We Eat Pomegranates on Rosh Hashanah?

On Rosh Hashanah it is customary to eat foods with
symbolic importance. According to some, these foods serve as cues to help us
focus on the agenda of the day: prayer,
repentance and resolution to do good.

According to
others, the physical act of eating these foods helps to concretize and give
physical form to the positive decrees we trust that G‑d has in store for us.
Similarly, the prophets in the Bible would make a physical sign to concretize
their prophecy, demonstrating that the transition from potential to actual is
dependent on one’s physical actions. (For more on this, read Why All the Symbolic
Rosh Hashanah Foods?)

For most of the foods, the
symbolism lies in the name of the food.1
When it comes to pomegranates, however, the symbolism lies in the fruit itself.
By eating the pomegranate, we express our wish for a year filled with as many
merits as a pomegranate has seeds.2

Though some
communities do not have the custom to eat many of the symbolic foods, they do eat the pomegranate
(along with the apple dipped in honey and the head of a fish or ram).3
Perhaps this is due to the pomegranate’s deeper significance.

Full of Mitzvahs

On the verse “Your temple is
like a split pomegranate from within your kerchief,”4 the
Talmud notes that the Hebrew word for “your temples” can also mean “your empty
ones.” The verse is teaching us that even the most “empty” among Israel are
full of mitzvahs, like a pomegranate is full of seeds.5

Thus, eating the pomegranate symbolizes
that although some of us may be lacking, nevertheless, we are all full of
mitzvahs.6

Look
Inside

The Talmud relates that the great
Talmudic sage Rabbi
Meir, who lived right after the destruction of the second Holy Temple, was
a student of Elishaben Avuyah, a great sage who
became a heretic. Even after Elisha turned away from the ways of Torah, and was
thereafter referred to in the Talmud by the name Acher (“Other”), Rabbi Meir continued to learn Torah from him.

The
sages of the Talmud ask how Rabbi Meir was able to do so. Is there not a rule
that one must only learn from a teacher with a stellar reputation? The sages
answer that Rabbi Meir, who went on to become one of the greatest sages, was
unique. When he learned from Acher, “he ate the fruit and threw away the peel,”
as one would eat a pomegranate.7

In other words,
Rabbi Meir was able to disregard and discard Acher’s openly sinful behavior
like a peel, drawing out the valuable Torah insights that remained within.

This is the
deeper reason for eating pomegranates on Rosh Hashanah. Through eating this
symbolic fruit, we express our prayer to G‑d that when He judges us, He
shouldn’t look at our outer “peels,” our external actions and appearances,
which may at times not have been up to par.8
Instead, we pray that he only look at our inner intentions and our true desire
to do good and be connected with Him.

Of course, we can
and should also practice this in our own lives, always focusing on the best in
others. May we merit a year of many blessings and mitzvahs—as many as the seeds
of the pomegranate!

A noted scholar and researcher, Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin serves as content editor at Chabad.org, and writes the popular weekly Ask Rabbi Y column. Rabbi Shurpin is the rabbi of the Chabad Shul in St. Louis Park, Minn., where he resides with his wife, Ester, and their children.